Police teams raid Sutton drug house

Marijuana plants, an AR-15 assault rifle, .308 rifle outfitted with a telescope, and body armor are displayed at the Sutton Police Department following the arrest of Hong Nguyen of Worcester.

SUTTON — Police arrested a Worcester man Wednesday at a house he owns in Sutton, which they say was being used to cultivate approximately 50 pounds of marijuana for distribution.

Hong T. Nguyen, 34, of 221 Cambridge St., Apt. 1 was arraigned Friday in Uxbridge District Court on charges of cultivation of a Class D substance, trafficking in marijuana (50 to 100 pounds) and theft of electricity.

Mr. Nguyen is being held on $25,000 cash bail at the Worcester County Jail. He is scheduled to return to court Nov. 27.

Sutton Police Lt. David J. Perry said additional firearm charges would be coming related to the recovery of an AR-15 assault rifle with a magazine designed for military and law enforcement use and a .308 rifle outfitted with a telescope. Mr. Nguyen was not licensed to carry the weapons.

The neat, raised ranch at 3 Colonial Road, which Mr. Nguyen purchased for $200,000 in 2008, did not appear to be lived in, but according to police, people would come and go.

"We were tipped off by some area residents of suspicious activity at 3 Colonial Road," Lt. Perry said. "This is the type of partnership we want with the community, to further our goals of public safety."

When police used a search warrant at the house Wednesday, they found Mr. Nguyen there but no furniture or other signs of housekeeping. The window shades were drawn. Marijuana plants were in nearly every room, police said.

"Essentially, the house was just being used as a grow house," Lt. Perry said. "We could actually smell it from the road."

Police recovered approximately 800 marijuana plants in various stages of growth, body armor, firearms and more than $1,500 worth of equipment used in the cultivation and distribution process. A vehicle was also seized.

During the search, police discovered that electric lines had been diverted to circumvent the meter.

Worcester Police and the Blackstone Valley Drug Task Force participated with Sutton in the investigation, which Lt. Perry said had been going on for about a month. Federal law enforcement may also be brought into the case.

Contact Susan Spencer at susan.spencer@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanSpencerTG.